


capture my heart

by AlmostSilent



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Artist Stiles Stilinski, Awkward Derek Hale, Getting Together, JUST VEry FLuffy, M/M, Matt being a creep, Mentions of past stalking, Photographer Derek, Photography, art majors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27178991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlmostSilent/pseuds/AlmostSilent
Summary: Derek finds a photograph of Stiles at his sister's gallery and knows he needs to meet this man, needs to photograph him. But maybe the story is more complicated than Derek knows? Can Stiles really learn to trust him?(really it's just very fluffy guys)
Relationships: (past unrequited) Matt Daehler/Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 4
Kudos: 176





	capture my heart

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a little something that's been sat mostly-finished in my Google Drive for a few years. I started this puppy in December of 2013, if that tells you anything. But! Here it is, all finished and everything.
> 
> beta'd only by Grammarly. And I know the title and summary are terrible, I'll fix them when I can get my brain to think of something better.

Derek isn’t really paying attention when he finds it, uncovers it really, it was just leaning against a wall, the canvas covered in a white sheet. Laura had been begging him to help her clear out the back room of the gallery for a few weeks and he’d finally caved and agreed to help. He was bored out of his mind and trying to get it done as quickly as possible when he found it.

The photograph was printed on a 24” by 16” canvas and it was good sure, the photograph itself was decent, but what really captivated Derek was the subject. He was posed almost like he had no idea the photo was being taken, looking off to the side and laughing openly. He was attractive sure, soft-looking brown hair and distracting moles, pale skin and a beautiful mouth. But all of that seemed secondary to his eyes, because while they were like swirling whiskey in the light, there was something else there, something sadder and somehow solemn. Derek looked and almost thought he could sense this guy’s presence in the room, something deeper and more intriguing than anyone else he’d met in real life. He had the sudden, uncontrollable urge to photograph this guy himself. 

He wasted no time in picking the canvas up and hauling it to Laura to demand information.

“I don’t know who the guy is,” she shrugged. “The photographer's name is Daehler though, Matt Daehler. I only really remember because you’re not the first person to ask, Lydia Martin stormed in when it was still on display and demanded to know who the photographer was and then paid me to take it down and destroy it. Obviously, I didn’t destroy it, because well, why the hell would I do that? Figured someone might change their mind so I kept it out back.”

Which at least gave Derek a place to start: Lydia Martin. 

Of course, Derek knew who Lydia was, everyone at the college knew who Lydia was. She was majoring in some fancy math course and had a tendency to correct her professors. But what she was really known for was having rich parents and a rich boyfriend. Her parents were ‘contributors’ to the school, meaning they had some building named after them. Some people might insinuate that they did it so their daughter could get into the school, but it was more likely they did it for her meathead boyfriend, who also had a building sharing his last name. 

But Derek didn’t really care about that, he only cared that Lydia could help him find the model from the photograph. Luckily, it wasn’t all that difficult to find her. Unfortunately, she did not seem impressed with his line of questioning. All he’d done was ask why she’d paid for the photograph be taken down (it seemed like a better opening question than: _“Who is the hot guy with the sad eyes and can I photograph him?”_ at least) but her face became instantly hard and defiant.

“That’s really not any of your business now, is it? Why would you want to know anyway?” Her tone as cold as the look in her eyes.

“No, I guess not. I was just hoping to get into contact with the guy from the photo, to maybe photograph him for one of my classes,” he shrugged a little awkwardly, and her gaze became even colder, degrees harsher as she glared at him.

“He’s a person okay, not an object through your camera lens,” she snaps.

“It’s not- I mean, I know that. And it’s not just because he’s beautiful, though he is, it’s- There’s like a light there, just this aura of life, but then you look deeper and you realise that there’s something about him that’s so sad. You don’t notice it at first, but it’s there. I think it’s the eyes…” he trails off a little uncomfortably. He didn’t mean to say all that to a perfect stranger, especially not one who was looking at him like she was perfectly capable of eviscerating him with her manicured nails.

But then something in her face changes and she looks at him more appraisingly, like she’s trying to size up his worth. She stares for what seems like an uncomfortably long time, but then she agrees to arrange a meeting between him and the guy from the photo.

“But only if he agrees,” she adds pointedly, and Derek nods eagerly, “Okay give me your number and if he agrees I’ll text you a time and place.”

After that, all he can do is wait, and true to her word two days later Derek receives a text from an unknown number with a time, date and the address of a coffee shop just off-campus. He’s buzzing with anticipation and nerves, it’s really only just starting to sink in how weird this is. Tracking this guy down and asking to photograph him? He can only hope the guy doesn’t get offended or creeped out. But surely since the guy’s already modelled before it shouldn’t be that weird right?

He’s holding onto that thought as he enters the coffee shop at the time he’s supposed to meet this guy, trying not to feel like a teenager going on his first date. He mostly fails though. It somehow gets even worse when he actually sees the guy in person.

He’s sat at one of the tables at the far side of the shop, away from the counter, he’s wearing a simple plaid overshirt and a t-shirt under it but he looks amazing anyway. He doesn’t really register Derek’s entrance, just keeps looking down at his cup on the table, but that’s not really surprising since he doesn’t know what Derek’s even looks like.

Approaching him is almost more difficult than Derek thought it would be, he’s not one to get nervous or shy, doesn’t suffer from anxiety, but there’s something about approaching this beautiful man that makes his insides squirm.

“Hey, uh, Lydia’s text said one thirty, I hope I’m not late,” and oh shit, having those eyes directed at him is like a punch to the solar plexus.

“No, no. I just figured I should get here a little early, since I wouldn’t know who I was looking for,” the words come out confidently enough but Derek thinks he can detect a trace of unease. It shouldn’t really be that surprising, this guy is essentially meeting a stranger for a mostly unknown reason relating to a photograph of him Derek probably shouldn’t have seen.

“I’m Derek,” he introduces, taking a seat and hoping to put both of them at ease.

“Stiles,” he nods. It’s an odd name for sure, but it strangely seems to fit him, unique, they’re both very unique.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” he smiles, “I -um, Lydia wouldn’t tell me, but I was curious as to why she paid to have the photograph taken down.”

He doesn’t quite phrase it as a question, so Stiles doesn’t have to answer if he doesn’t want to, the last thing Derek wants to do is push and pry where he has no business pushing and prying.

“Oh yeah,” Stiles frowns, “It’s kind of a long story? Or I guess maybe not long but complicated and dramatic or whatever,” he huffs a laugh but there’s little humour in it, “I should probably start by saying that the photo you saw and all the others were taken without my knowledge or consent.”

That startles Derek, but maybe it shouldn’t, he’d thought the photograph was posed to make it look like Stiles was unaware but it wasn’t such a leap to imagine he really wasn’t aware. Stiles seemed to be deliberating his next words, as he took a sip of what Derek could see was a black coffee.

“Matt Daehler, the guy who took the photo, he was stalking me, and I had no freaking idea until Lydia and Allison saw that photo hanging up in the gallery. He was in my Fine Arts class, and I mean he flirted a bit but I wasn’t really interested. We went out once, because Scott, my best friend, said that I’d be single forever if I didn’t give people a chance or whatever. But I always got like a bad vibe from him. Turns out I was right,” another huff of laughter but with a bit more humour, “I have a restraining order now and all the photos and everything were taken as evidence but I guess that one survived.”

It’s kind of a lot to process for a second. It’s certainly nothing Derek would have imagined and he felt weirdly guilty for having seen the photograph at all, now that he knew, and he certainly couldn’t ask Stiles to model for him. There was an unexpected disappointment at that, Derek hadn’t realised quite how badly he’d wanted to photograph Stiles until that moment.

“Lydia told me why you were asking about it,” Stiles went on after what could have been a few minutes of silence. “But I mean you can maybe understand why I’m a little hesitant to let some guy I don’t know take my picture, I probably wouldn’t even be here, but Lydia said I should hear you out, so.”

“What if you got to know me, then it wouldn’t be as weird right?” The words were out of Derek’s mouth before he’d really thought them, but he wasn’t going to take them back.

Stiles seems shocked at the words for a moment before he smiles tentatively.

“Yeah, I think I can do that.”

\---

Stiles has known Derek for a few months now, has gotten to know the surprisingly sweet and endearingly funny guy, who as it turns out is working on his MA in Digital Arts. Stiles feels confident now in saying that he knows Derek pretty well, he’s nearly twenty-six and comes from a large family, including three sisters though Stiles has only met Laura and Cora. He knows Derek secretly likes watching procedural crime shows and thinks putting anything other than meat and cheese on pizza is weird, he wants a pet dog but his apartment building doesn’t allow pets. Honestly, Stiles knows Derek better than he knows some of his other friends that he’s known for much longer, which is why he’d finally brought the subject of modelling for Derek up.

It hasn’t been spoken about since that first day they met, sure with Derek studying Digital Arts and Stiles double majoring in Studio Art and Art History, photography is a common enough conversational topic, but they never brought up the initial reason for their meeting again. But now Stiles wants to know what Derek will do afterwards. It feels like everything is riding on what Derek will do. Stiles is honestly halfway terrified that Derek will take a few pictures of him then disappear from whence he came. It was, after all, the whole reason for them getting to know each other, this was all Derek really wanted at the end of the day. Stiles is mostly afraid that this...connection he feels between them is all one-sided, that he’s made it all up in his mind. 

He arrives at Derek’s apartment around one o’clock and is a little surprised when Derek directs him to the kitchen. Stiles has been in love with Derek’s kitchen since the first time he came over to the apartment a few weeks after he met Derek, it’s pretty large for a two-bedroom apartment and has a gorgeous oven and so much counter space. It was a shock and a horror to realise that Derek rarely actually uses the kitchen to do anything other than heat up leftover take out. 

So Stiles sets about making them some lunch and tries not to blush too much at hearing the shutter of Derek’s camera every few seconds. Instead, he does what he usually does; he talks. He knows he’s still blushing a little, but as he talks to (and sometimes just at) Derek he starts to relax. It’s not entirely possible to forget the camera is there, Derek is a little distracted from their conversation and the sound of the shutter can still be heard between his words, but it doesn’t make Stiles as uncomfortable as he half thought it would.

Derek only puts down the camera when it’s time for them to eat, and when he does he becomes fully engaged in the conversation once more. Just like that Stiles’ fears start to melt away. Derek isn’t acting any different now that he’s taken Stiles’ picture, in fact, there seems to be an extra layer of energy to him today. Stiles blames all of that for what comes out of his mouth next.

“You should kiss me.”

The dead silence is definitely worrying. Stiles hadn’t planned to say that, and he’s not entirely sure where it came from. Except that’s a lie, he’s wanted to kiss Derek since the third time they met up and Derek spent nearly fifteen whole minutes petting a random dog at the park. At this point, he’s pretty stupidly gone over the guy. And there have been times, moments when he kind of thought Derek might want to kiss him too. But he never really planned on saying anything.

“Um…” Derek blinks several times, the look on his face seems to indicate his brain is rebooting, “I could, I mean yeah, I could do that?”

Which, that’s about the point that Derek practically vaults over the table to get his mouth on Stiles’, like his brain just registered the command and couldn’t wait a second longer. 

Later that afternoon, when they’re cuddled up on the sofa after having spent most of the afternoon alternating between lazily making out and talking intimately, Stiles reflects that maybe, getting his picture taken isn’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and if you spot any glaring mistakes feel free to point them out.
> 
> Kudos and Comments make my day ;)


End file.
